Door lock



M. H; ATEN March 30, 1937.

DOOR LOCK Filed Jan. 26, 1935 INVENTOR.

MAR/ON H ATE/v Mliffi" ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 30, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in door locks, and it consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a door lock especially designed for automobile doors in which the outside handle is freed from the bolt mechanism when the device is either locked from the inside of the car or from the outside of the car. In standard automobile door locks the outside handle is held against movement when the door is locked, and this permits the handle to be wrenched by an unauthorized person, and many times the wrenching of the handle will retract the boltand permit the door to be opened. If

the handle is freed when the door is locked, it will be seen that the moving of the handle to retract the bolt will have no effect. a

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described in which I employ a handle lever instead of the standard door handle, and I mount the gripping portion of the lever in a shield which forms a part of the car body. The shield hides the handle, and may be stream-lined to carry out the general effect of thestream-lining of the automobile.. More over, a person in opening the door moves the handle toward the shield to retract the bolt and continues the same movement in opening the door. The shield and lever cooperate together to produce a hand grip during the actual opening of the door.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of an automobile showing my device operatively applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a section along the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section along the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a section along the line 6-4 of Figure 2. y

In carrying out my invention I make .use of an automobile indicated generally at l, and this 5o automobile has doors 2 and 3 thereon. In Figures 2 and 3 inclusive I show a lock especially designed for the door 3. It is best to describe this look and then to set forth the slight change necessary in order to adapt the lock for the 55 door 2.

- The .lock proper comprises a casing 4 having a bolt 5 slidably mounted therein and guided by a projection 6 and a pin 1 that slides in a slot 8. The bolt 5 slidably extends through an opening 9 in the lock casing 4 and is secured to a sliding plate I 0 which forms an integral part thereof. A spring ll urges the bolt 5 to the left and the end wall l2 of the casing limits the movement of the bolt in this direction.

' In Figure 2 I show an outside hand lever l3 which is pivoted at M, and is mounted in a shield l5 forming part of the car body. The. lever has a tongue [6 extending toward the lock, and this tongue is designed to retract the bolt when the hand grip portion I! of the lever is moved in a clockwise direction about the pivot Hi. The shield l5 and the portion ll of the lever I3 can be gripped by the hand during the retracting of the bolt and the opening of the door.

I have indicated the end of the tongue l6 by dotted lines in Figure 3, and it will be noted that when the parts of the lock are in the position shown in this figure the tongue Hi can be moved without retracting the bolt. In other words, the outside handle l3 of the automobile lock is disconnected from the mechanism. A spring l8, see Figure 2, yieldingly urges the hand lever I 3 into the position shown in Figure 2, and the rattling of the hand lever.

It is obvious that the car body l9 shown in Figure 2 can have a depressed portion so that the shield l5 need not extend so far beyond the surface of the body. In this event the tongue prevents It would make'more of an angle with respect to the shank ofthe hand grip Portion ll.

The plate i0 carries a projection 20 against which a cam lever 2| can be swung. The cam lever shown in Figure 3 is pivotally mounted on a projection 22, and this projection carries a spring 23 that has its free end connected to the cam lever at 24, and the spring has a tendency to swing the cam lever into the position shown. As already stated, when the parts are in this position the tongue I8 will move freely between the projection 20 and the end 25 of the cam lever.

I further show a remote control indicated generally at 26, and this control has a plate 21 in which an arm 28 is pivotally secured by means of a stub shaft 29. An inside handle 30 is connected to the stub shaft 29. A link 3| is connected to the arm 28, and carries at its other end a projection 32 that is slidable in a slot 33 in the plate 10. The handle 30 shown in Figure 3 is in locked position. The parts when in this position disconnect the outside lever handle l3 from the bolt 5. A spring 34 yieldingly holds the arm 28 in the position shown.

When it is desired to move the parts of the mechanism into operable position by the remote control, the handle 30 is swung downwardly from the position shown in Figure 3. This will swing the arm 28 and will move the link 3| so that the projection 32 will be moved to the end of the slot 33 and will engage with a cam edge 35 of the cam lever 2| so as to swing the lever in a counterclockwise direction about the projection 22. The end or head 25 of the lever 2| will now be brought against the projection 20, and will be disposed directly in the path of the tongue 55. When the parts are in this position either the handle 30 may be used for retracting the bolt 5 or the handle lever l3 may be used.

When the hand lever i3 is used the tongue is will move to the right as shown in Figure 9, and during this movement will engage with the head 25 and will tend to swing the cam lever 2| in a counter-clockwise direction. This will be prevented by the projection 29 andthe movement of the tongue will cause the projection 20 to move to the right and to carry with it the plate ill and the bolt 5. When the handlelii is released the spring II will return the parts to the position shown in Figure 7.

I have described how the remote control 26 can be used for opening the lock and I have also described how the hand lever l3 can be used for the same purpose. Furthermore the swinging of the inside handle 30 into locked position as shown 1 in Figure 3 will permit the outside hand lever l3 to be moved without affecting the lock mechanism. The remote control has not been changed in any way from the standard ones now in use.

In assembling the casing 3 and the outside hand lever I 3 to the car body 19, it will be seen that the hand lever is moved into the shield l5 so that the tongue It will enter an opening 36 in the car body. The pin M can now be passed through a bearing 31 carried by the casing 4, see Figure 4, and this pin will pivotally connect the hand lever I3 to the casing t. The casing 4 can now be secured to the body l9 by any suitable means not shown.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The shield l5 acts as a stop for the hand lever in that the lever abuts the shield in opening the door. This prevents the handle from being wrenched ofi. The shield also acts as a hand grip for aid in opening the door because it forms a part of the door. The shield covers the opening through which the tongue of the lever handle projects. The handle is protected by the shield and the shield is stream-lined so as to add to the beauty of the car.

I claim:

1. The combination with an automobile door and a lock therefor, of a hand lever for operating the lock, said door having an opening therein for receiving a part of the handle, said door having a shield covering the handle and the opening and forming a part of the door, the open end of the shield facing toward the rear of the automobile, said shield acting as a stop for limiting the opening movement of the handle and cooperating with the handle to constitute a hand grip to aid in opening the door.

2. The combination with a vehicle door having a lock mechanism therefor, of a hand lever for actuating the lock, and a shield carried by the door and covering the lever, said shield having its open end facing the rear of the vehicle, and cooperating with the lever to constitute a hand grip to aid in opening the door. 7

3. The combination with a vehicle door having a lock mechanism therefor, of a hand lever for actuating the lock, and a shield carried'by the door and covering the lever, said shield having its open end facing the rear of the vehicle, and cooperating with the lever to constitute a hand grip to aid in opening the door, said shield also acting as a stop for limiting the opening move ment of the lever.

4. The combination with a vehicle door having a lock mechanism therefor, of a hand lever for actuating the lock, and a shield carried by the door and covering the lever, said shield having its open end facing the rear of the vehicle and cooperating with the lever to constitute a hand grip to aid in opening the door, and a spring for yieldingly holding the lever in inactive position and preventing it from rattling.

MARION H. ATEN. 

